title: How much longer will Africa have to depend on western nations for support of its capacity-building efforts for biomedical research?
abstract: Advances in biomedical research techniques have resulted in the conquest of many diseases and the improvement in the health and well-being of populations, yet sub-Saharan Africa continues to lag behind western nations in terms of research infrastructure and capacity. The increasing numbers of links and collaborations between western institutions of higher learning and teaching hospitals and universities in sub-Saharan Africa have undoubtedly promoted scholarly research activity on the continent. However, most of the research agenda is, understandably, dominated by western collaborators who provide the much needed funding. Given the recent exposure by events on Wall Street of the frailties of western economies, Africa urgently needs to look inwards in its quest to train biomedical researchers of repute and to secure funding for its capacity-building needs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria. laabes2002@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Emmanuel Philip
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Laabes
authors.forename: Rizwana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.forename: Stella Muyanja
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Zawedde
authors.forename: Robert Hayes
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Glew
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends*; D057191:Capacity Building; D003906:Developing Countries; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D012109:Research Support as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends